Don of the Dead
by GhostDragoness
Summary: During a routine Ghostbusters patrol, the new recruits - Oscar Venkman and Elwood Spengler - stumble onto a bank robbery, committed by actual gangsters from the 1920s! And things truly get underway as the leader of the ghostly heist not only shocked the recruits by appearance, but he looks an awful lot like one of their employers!


**_Prologue: Misidentity_**

It was another ordinary day in New York City, two of the new Ghostbusters recruits, Oscar Venkman and Elwood Spengler, were out on patrol around the neighborhood, with Elwood driving the legendary Ecto-1 as they kept a close eye on any reports of supernatural sightings. Of course, it was quite a slow week for the Ghostbusters at the time, not with any superb dangers threatening the city, but rather with simple class one to five apparitions only minimally wreaking havoc amongst some of the New York citizens.

"Man, this has got to be one of the _slowest_ weeks we've ever had in the business!" Oscar complained. "Where's the _action_, where's the _intensity_, and what happened to the _drama_?"

"You're not still thinking about the time we stopped a Class-VI animator awhile back, are you?" Elwood replied. "That was way beyond the versatile of a simple angel of death with inadvertent abilities to take out the whole church in one swipe."

"That's nothing, sort of; well I was just hoping for a little more action with this week's paranormal patrol is all (which I still think is a pretty dumb excuse for taking the ol' Ecto-1 out is all). I mean, I was just thinking of doing something that's, I don't know, out of the ordinary that even we could find challenging."

"Come on, it's a strict 13/87 percent chance of us dealing with a more complicated means of what you may call _action_."

"… Better than this, that's for sure."

At that moment, both Elwood and Oscar began to hear a woman screaming from an apartment complex just across from the city bank. Oscar and Elwood parked Ecto-1 by the complex and quickly rushes out of the vehicle to see the woman scream in fear.

"Bank robbery, bank robbery, bank robbery!"

"Calm down ma'am, what's going on?!" Elwood asked as he strapped on his proton pack and other equipment use.

The woman tries to explain as she was still in a blood-curdling trance by her witness. "T-The bank - it's being robbed - by **_gangsters_**! Y-You gotta do something!"

"Oh for the love of - _that's_ what all the fuss is about?" Oscar moaned in disappointment. "Why don't you just call the cops or something?"

Momentarily, Elwood picks up his PKE meter, and the device detected an actual presence coming from the bank, itself. "I think this woman is right; there is something inside the bank; I'm getting a strong reading, we'd better get in there!"

Soon Oscar and Elwood both raced over to the city bank and rushed inside; and once they were in, they see all the bank attendees, the employees, and even the security guards all ducked to the ground, frightened by a group of men actually robbing the large safe in the back, all looking like mobsters and thugs from the early 1920s to 1930s. The ringleader of the gang stood tall and vain in the middle of the main floor, with his large black overcoat facing the building entrance, a large Thompson submachine gun was held in his gloved left hand, and his fedora and a puff of cigar smoke were the only things present in sight. He, as well as his gang members that continued to take out as much money as they could hold, all look to be full-fledged solid _living_ bodies, but indeed there was something _otherworldly_ about their presence.

Oscar and Elwood soon moved into position and aimed their Neutrona wands at the gang leader firsthand. Elwood held up his PKE meter as the device whirred instantaneously, detecting a solid presence inside the main floor.

"I'm getting a definite reading," Elwood said as he charged up his weapons. "Possibly Class four or five free-repeaters, including the ringleader here."

Then, Oscar finally grabs the gang leader's attention as he aimed his wand at the being. "Alright, drop your weapon and put your hands in the air! In fact, better put your weapon down first, real easy like."

Soon the gang leader slowly raises his hands in the air, but kept his Thompson in place, and as he turns his body very cautiously, his fedora rises up carefully as he held up his head, the very _appearance_ of the man's face truly even **_shocked_** Oscar and Elwood by the first sight. The gangster's face looked none other than…

"_**DR.**__**STANTZ**_?!" Both Elwood and Oscar cried out in surprised looks.

The gangster, looking an awful lot like Ghostbusters cofounder, _Dr. Ray Stantz_, he smirked with hesitation and suddenly fires his machine gun at the Ghostbusters recruits.

"Oscar, get down!" Elwood shouted as he pushed his colleague down to the floor, with him following behind.

After firing another round of ectoplasmic bullets, the gangster look alike chuckles maniacally and throws his cigar down to the floor, putting it out with his foot. He then announces to his crew, with his voice _definitely_ sounding like the old Ghostbusters cofounder, as if he really is Ray Stantz, himself.

"Alright boys, party's over! Grab whatever's left and head out!"

The rest of the gang each grabbed most of the leftover money and finally head out of the building. Then, with the gang leader slowly following behind, he spoke once more. "Well this certainly has been fun ladies and gentlemen, I'm sure we'll be doing this again… very soon."

Then the gang leader disappears into the back of the building, following his colleagues behind as he escapes with diligence.

Confused, but at the same time frightened, Oscar spoke with a panicking voice as he stood back up to his feet. "Tell me we're not seeing what we just _saw_,"

Elwood replies with ease, even though he felt confused as well. "I saw it, but e-even I – I-I'm not sure whether to believe it or not."

"That Stantz was Dr. Mafioso! - I-I mean, that Mafioso was Dr. Stantz!"

"W-We'd better get back to the firehouse, stat!"


End file.
